What Am I Missing When It Comes to Immigration?

Over the years, I have rarely addressed the question of immigration. That’s because I have no expertise in the matter and find it much better to solicit the wisdom of experts. Why give my opinion if it’s no better than yours (or, perhaps, less worthy than yours)? So, this article has no hidden agenda. I’m genuinely asking questions.

First, allow me to share these three different examples.

1) Last week, I was speaking with a South African woman who has lived in the States with her husband and children for more than 15 years. She was ecstatic, telling me that just that morning, they had all become American citizens. It meant the world to them.

2) Not everyone is so fortunate. In the early 2000’s, one of our ministry school grads wanted to stay here in the States and applied for citizenship, along with his wife. They were from Norway, they were well-educated, they had a stellar track record, and he was an employee of our school. Despite our best efforts, including hiring an immigration lawyer, they were denied a path to citizenship and had to return home.

3) A few years ago, I was contacted via social media by the son of a Vietnamese couple who had fled Vietnam when we pulled our troops out, suffering terribly before reaching our shores. They were among the Boat People of the late 1970s to early 1980s, and their stories were heartbreaking.

My wife, Nancy, and I were part of a church that got involved in sponsoring these refugees, so if we had a spare bed or couch, we welcomed them into our homes. This couple was the first of a number of Vietnamese refugees to live with us, together with their baby boy.

We had not been in touch with them for quite a few years, and it was another son who was now contacting us. But he wanted to put me back in touch with his parents, which was an incredible experience for all of us. The father told me he had recently become an American citizen and chose my name, Michael, as his new name. Incredible!

Now, I present these three diverse cases here simply to say this: For many decades now, people come to our shores (or, across our borders) to find refuge in this land of opportunity, or to start a new life, or simply to continue on the path most important to them. And we have a process by which people become American citizens.

There will always be more refugees and potential immigrants wanting to come to our country than is possible for us to absorb. (Again, we have little idea how much opportunity America presents, especially when compared to the many impoverished and war-torn nations of the world.) But we must have an orderly system to process these refugees and potential immigrants. Otherwise we will have chaos.

If you’ve ever crossed the border into Canada or Mexico, you know that sometimes you can wait for several hours to get through, depending on the busyness of the traffic. And it’s not uncommon to get questioned at length if the officers are not happy with your answers. As annoying as this can be, countries need borders.

As for American policy, an immigration website notes that, “The United States has been the top destination for international migrants since at least 1960, with one-fifth of the world's migrants living there as of 2017. Despite its long history of immigration, the United States has oscillated between perceiving immigration as a valuable resource and as a major challenge.”

According to Wikipedia, “In absolute numbers, the United States has a larger immigrant population than any other country, with 47 million immigrants as of 2015. This represents 19.1% of the 244 million international migrants worldwide, and 14.4% of the U.S. population.”

Those are some amazing stats, and all of this leads me to my questions, which I’m not asking as a Trump-supporter or a Trump-basher. I’m asking in the most objective way possible.

First, if illegal immigrants are flooding our country, what’s so controversial about building a border wall? There’s a legal process for immigration and we take in hundreds of thousands of immigrants each year. What’s wrong with keeping the illegals out?

Second, since when has anyone been able to force us to take in immigrants? Who decided that the way we treat a migrant caravan – one that was ostensibly stirred up by leftwing activists – is now a test of our national compassion? Don’t we have a long-term track record of compassionate response to refugees?

Third, what’s so controversial about wanting to preserve our national identity? After all, people want to come to America for a reason. If we cease to be America, there’s no reason for people to come here. Can we learn nothing from what some European countries are now experiencing due to a massive influx of Muslim immigrants, many of whom have little or no desire to become incorporated into the host country’s national culture?

Fourth, why would it be so hard to make a path for citizenship, with penalties, for those who came in illegally years ago but have been working jobs, obeying the laws, and contributing to the good of the society? Why must they be deported according to some hardliners? Is there no middle ground?

Again, I’m not asking these questions to prove a point or to support or undermine the president. And, to repeat, I don’t talk about this much because it’s not an area of focus or expertise for me. But the current caravan crisis, coupled with my conversation with the South African woman prompted me to put these on the table for your input.

How about some common sense responses without political vitriol? I’ll read your comments with interest. Thanks!

Comments

Very interesting Dr. Brown, and thank you for addressing this problem and seeking answers. I am not going to go into the history of illegal immigration into this country, but I do want you to know that I write this opinion based on years of experience on the southern border as a Border Patrol Agent. The fact that illegal aliens have been coming to this country since it’s foundation is not the issue, or the problem in and of itself. I believe that the problem that has allowed illegal immigration to snowball to the point that it has is our lackadaisical attitude toward controlling our own borders and enforcing the immigration laws that apply to illegal immigration. And until we take our own laws seriously, no one else will. Only when we finally decide to take our own immigration laws seriously by stopping illegal entrants at the border will we see any results impacting the flood of illegal entrants into our country. It is only when we take our own immigration laws seriously by stopping illegal entrants at the border that Mexico will be forced to deal with the number of people who flood across their own country. It is only when we take our own immigration laws seriously by stopping illegal entrants at the border that Honduras, and El Salvador will be forced to face the problems of crime and poverty in their own countries. As long as Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador have the ‘safety net’ of the United States allowing illegal aliens into the United States by doing almost nothing to stop it at the border there will never be any positive changes for the people in those countries, because there is no incentive for any of the leadership in those countries to do so. It is only when we take our own immigration laws seriously by preventing illegal entrants into our country at out border will anything ever be done by Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador about their own problems in their own countries.

What is so controversial about a border wall? There shouldn't be any controversy- it shouldn't be built, because it won't work and it would waste billions of tax dollars that should be spent elsewhere. Even the conservative CATO foundation says it won't work. (https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/why-wall-wont-work) Pres. Trump is primarily concerned about is getting his will done- he wants a wall, and he's going to build the wall. Yet he did not show similar backbone when it came to eliminating the carried interest loophole- which he said he benefited from.

I have always believed we need a strong border. But my beliefs are even stronger now.
For four years I lived as a missionary in Guatemala. Because of our lax border policies I saw family’s torn apart all the time. There are entire communities in Guatemala that only have boys and old men, all the rest of the men are in the US. Most of the wives left have less then a fourth grade education and no other skills because they are trained to be stay st home Moms. This leads many into prostitution and other bad decisions to just feed themselves.
I have worked with quite a few women who grew up fatherless because their Father came to the US after they were born.
The idea that the men send money back to support their family is very isolated from what I saw.
I believe we need a strong border now, for the people of these countries. The only reason they break up their family and risk their lives is because they know they can make it through the US southern border.
I believe once we stop the inflow, we can talk about the options of what to do with the ones that are here and looking at our citizenship policies.

I have always believed we need a strong border. But my beliefs are even stronger now.
For four years I lived as a missionary in Guatemala. Because of our lax border policies I saw family’s torn apart all the time. There are entire communities in Guatemala that only have boys and old men, all the rest of the men are in the US. Most of the wives left have less then a fourth grade education and no other skills because they are trained to be stay st home Moms. This leads many into prostitution and other bad decisions to just feed themselves.
I have worked with quite a few women who grew up fatherless because their Father came to the US after they were born.
The idea that the men send money back to support their family is very isolated from what I saw.
I believe we need a strong border now, for the people of these countries. The only reason they break up their family and risk their lives is because they know they can make it through the US southern border.
I believe once we stop the inflow, we can talk about the options of what to do with the ones that are here and looking at our citizenship policies.

The border wall controversy is mostly about political optics. The Right wants the wall because it looks like we will finally be doing something real about stopping the flow of illegals. Of course, most illegals arrive here using temporary visas and there's always ways around or under walls. The Left hates the wall because it appears racist to them. They think it's an obsession with keeping brown-skinned people out (the wall is only on the Mexican border). They want to show compassion knowing that the illegals will eventually be voting for them. But you're measuring compassion thinking we're a good country because we let some, like the Vietnamese boat people, in. The Left views America as an oppressive imperialistic country that has stolen from and impoverished nations around the world. We can only really be compassionate then if we open the doors wide and let many come in. The Left also views our culture and our national identity as a bigoted one promulgated by privileged (Christian) whites. Thus, they don't want to preserve our identity. They prefer a multi-cultural identity that celebrates all cultures, beliefs, orientations, etc. The Right on the other hand felt burned by Reagan's compromise of amnesty for illegals. They had been promised that the door would be shut tight to prevent more illegals, but that never happened, and so they are being especially hard-lined now. They see how the politicians may talk tough on illegal immigration but then do just the opposite. After all, many business interests need illegals to function profitably, and Republican congressmen like to be nice to businesses. In the end, the wall effectively divides our country. The Right can't believe that we wouldn't have a wall, and the Left can't believe that we would. The Right wants it to save our country, while the Left see it as destroying our country and the progress they think we have made. It all really comes down to how you view America itself.